Not Just a Dumb Bunny
by Neocolai
Summary: Primitive instincts drive deeper than loyalty, as Judy learns when she takes the pellet for Nick. Alternate scene.
**All** **right** , **so** **the** " **Officer** **Hopps** **goes** **savage** " **idea** **has** **already** **been** **written** **a** **few** **times** , **but** **this** **is** **one** **scene** **I** **really** **wanted** **to** **see** **in** **the** **movie**. **Couple this chapter with an extra dose of Nick!whump just to round out the angst a little.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia, nor am I making any money on this.**

* * *

Judy wouldn't be able to explain it later. Primitive instinct, she had publically deduced regarding the recent predator attacks. Something inane, something born of nature itself, had spurred the irrational behavior.

If primitive urges had been responsible for the predators' brutality, then Judy certainly would have had an excuse for her own reaction. Much later, when Chief Bogo questioned her motives, it was the only response she could offer.

"Something… made me move. Something deep inside."

Instinct should have made her flee. She was a rabbit, after all. Courage wasn't part of their primitive order. But when Mayor Bellweather raised the gun and all Judy could think was _'what if there was a second bullet',_ her muscles bunched without her accord and she flew. One paw outstretched, fingers splaying before Nick's face as though every spare inch of him could be protected. Pain ripped through her leg and she knew the limp may be permanent, that those parking tickets would be mighty hard to place from now on, but the slush of fresh blood was forgotten as tiny particles of glass exploded in her right hand.

 _Not a blueberry! Not a blueberry!_

She heard Nick holler from far away, and then she ceased to care. Warm blackness like a cozy rabbit hole filled her mind, and she burrowed into it, dreaming of grassy meadows filled with bobbing yellow flowers.

She woke to the putrid, adrenalized scent of a predator. _Fox_ _!_ So close! He might dig her out of her burrow, slice her open with careless claws before snapping her up in his –

She froze, shivering, and the weight of the smell crushed her as large paws tapped her shoulder. _No, please no!_

" _Judy…"_

Strange, soft sounds wanted to calm her throbbing heart. She stilled, wondering what they could mean.

" _Judy, open…."_

More sounds. She wanted to listen forever, and yet the smell told her that she wasn't safe.

Great paws enveloped her and she remembered the warnings about the weasel; the predator that would calm its prey and suddenly tear into living flesh.

Screaming, she opened her eyes. Red fur filled her vision and she kicked out, shrieking again. The strange sounds were rough now, filled with unease as the fox yanked her into his trap. Instincts told her to flee, that she would die, and there would be no peaceful meadows again.

Something deep inside told her to fight.

Running had never been an option for this rabbit.

She bit down on the auburn paw and flipped her hind legs, clawed toes raking down the fox's arm. Blood filled her mouth and a shrill yelp hurt her ears. One mad scramble and she was free, scuttling into the horrid, dead underbrush and scrabbling the walls in search of a hole. _Can't get out! Can't get out!_

"Judy!"

She stumbled over her paws, cowering as the fox rose to his hind legs. _He's toying with me._ Her paw was bleeding and her hind leg dragged. She couldn't run from him any longer. _Don't make it long, please!_

"Judy, it's…." More sounds. The fox stretched out his foreleg. Tinny noises echoed from the carrot in his paw.

She pressed against the wall, shivering. _I won't fall for it. You can't lure me out with a treat!_ Daisies, how she wanted the carrot, but the smell of predator overwhelmed her desire.

The fox sighed, and his paw fell back to his side. He was readying himself, no doubt. Terrorizing her into paralysis before he lunged.

The inner drive punched her again, and she ricocheted off the wall. Better to fight than to flee; to take a chance than to die without first trying to live. The fox's green eyes flew wide, before her teeth clicked together in the soft flesh of his ear.

He screamed, and blood filled her mind. She knew how to fight… it didn't make sense. She knew how to punch his throat, aim for the eyes, hang on to the odd covering around his torso so that she didn't have to land on her hind legs before she bit again. He hollered, alternatively buckling her down and pushing her away.

He wouldn't bite.

She sprang back and tripped, lame leg dragging. Confused, she waited for the charge. The fox stumbled back, pressing a paw against the scratches in his cheek. He smelled hurt. Luminous green eyes were riveted on her, as though he was the prey shying away, and still he would not attack.

"Carrots." His call was a strange whine. He sat back on his hind legs, holding out the carrot again. Scratchy sounds echoed and she braced herself with a snarl.

 _You can't trick me!_

"Judy, _please_!"

Laughter grated harshly above her; braying and rasping like a demented ram. Her ears pressed back against the sound. _Stop, stop it please, just leave me alone!_

"Can't you just be my dumb bunny?"

The soft sounds seeped beneath the cruel laughter, and she knew they had meaning. Edging forward, she raised her foreleg, and instantly stopped.

Clever fox.

Clarity returned, and before he could grab her paw, before he could snare her with that foul smelling, shredded fabric, she surrendered herself to one final onslaught. She would die – her countless siblings would never know she was gone – but she would try to live.

One last defiance.

Her lame leg failed to spring properly and she missed his neck. Her teeth sank into the auburn fur below his ear and she kicked as he howled, scrabbling his face with claws that could carve a tunnel in seconds.

Now he fought back.

Rough paws gripped the confining fabric around her neck. Twisting. Choking. She wheezed, detaching her teeth, and immediately she was thrust into his chest, wiry forelegs binding her hind legs.

"It's okay, Carrots. I gotcha. Please, please calm down!" So many meaningless sounds. He kept chittering, blood weeping from his scratched arms, and still he would not kill her. She sobbed, finally desperate for the end.

 _Please stop playing. Just kill me already._

Whimpers rose in her throat, high-pitched and scared. In response, whispers like the wind on rushes breezed over her as the fox pressed his hand over her head, dragging it down in smooth, unhurried strokes. She settled, too exhausted to kick him away.

"It's okay, Carrots. We're gonna fix this."

"Chief Bogo!" The gooey rush of words made her ill. She pressed her face into the fox's uncouth green covering, flattening her ears. "Chief Bogo, we finally have our culprit! Clearly this fox is the source of all the savage predators. He took one nip at poor little Judy and look at what she's become!"

"You did not just send that text!" The roar sent her quivering, and she focused on the paw rubbing her sore, abused ears.

"Oops, hehe, guess all of Zootopia knows by now. What do you care about what I tell the city? I _am_ mayor, after all."

"It's not true!" The fox's bark thrummed beneath her, encouraging and fearsome all at once. So this was how predators hypnotized their prey. "Judy recorded everything. That snippy little lamb has been plotting the ruin of predators all along!"

"What? I would never –"

The noises were too much. Her mind couldn't understand the significance of the individual sounds. Closing her eyes, she snuggled into the warmth and pretended she was falling asleep in her warm, dark burrow. Tomorrow she would be dead.

* * *

Soft blinks of disturbance roused Judy from a black, unmemorable dream. Sunlight pierced her foggy mind and she stretched with a groan. _M'I late, or is it Saturday?_

The distinct lack of stretching room gave Judy pause. Alarmed, she wiggled her paws, swishing her head to take in the colorless ceiling, billboard covered walls, and tiled floors.

"Where –"

"Officer Hopps." Chief Bogo's rumble distracted her from her struggle. He sounded …. Uncertain? Ill at ease? Both descriptions were poor choices for the grim, steeled officer. "Officer Hops, can you understand me?"

"Loud and clear," Judy chirped. Or so her mind responded. Her voice dragged out like a snail with a head cold.

The chief snorted, but a faint smile lightened his eyes. Instantaneously the gruffness Judy associated with the police force returned. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Bullets," Judy said slowly, her mind fragments of action, like a complex movie. "Train. Nick got me out."

"Mm." The cape buffalo awkwardly cleared his throat. "You were assaulted by a weapon that was used to reduce predators to a primitive state," he said brusquely. "Through your recordings, Mayor Bellweather and her affiliates have been proven guilty. We found an antidote to the nighthowler, but you've been under the effects for three weeks. I expect you can't remember much."

His tone hinted that he hoped she didn't.

Something deeper than instinct warned her of the missing information.

"Where's Nick?"

Chief Bogo faltered. After a pause he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. " _Former_ Mayor Bellweather instigated one last mayhem before she was arrested. She… convinced over half the population that… Nick had corrupted the predators."

"What?" Judy buckled in an attempt to sit up, forgetting the restraints. "She didn't!"

"He sold ice pops from a strictly non-predator establishment _to_ predators, including and not limited to those who were affected by the nighthopper injections." Chief Bogo shook his head in disgust. "As if that theory isn't ludicrous enough, the rest of Zootopia is convinced that Wilde bit you and spread on a disease of madness. This entire case is lunacy."

"Chief, you don't believe that," Judy entreated. "Nick would never have hurt me! He didn't even….."

 _Green eyes filled with pain, long scratches dripping along shivering arms, panicked pleas unheard as he held her down, ignoring his own hurts as he tried not to bruise her paws…_

"Nick!" Judy yelled, bucking against the restraints. _No! No, I didn't, it was supposed to be just an act! No one was going to get hurt!_

"Judy – Officer Hopps, calm yourself!"

The harsh rebuke stilled her and she leaned her head against the bunk, shuddering.

"Wilde is going to be just fine," Chief Bogo said, his tone curt with professional urgency. "You're going to recover your strength and you're going to tell the public exactly what happened, just like you did in the recording."

"Where is he?" Judy pleaded. "How bad is it?"

The chief's eyes softened. "He's in solitary – for his own protection," he added hastily. "He's being well cared for. I promise."

"He – I – I –" She sobbed, memories pouring over her. The taste of blood on her teeth and the thrill of fear stammering her heart until she thought she would die from terror alone. " _Chief_ , I – what am I going to –"

"You're going to get up and push through this," the cape buffalo said amidst her cries. "You're going to tell Zootopia the truth. You're going to fight for your partner's innocence. _Can you do this?"_

"Yes," Judy sobbed, choking down the last tears. _No more crying. I can fix this._ "Yes, I can."

* * *

She had never felt less prepared for a speech. Five days after she woke in the hospital, she was through haranguing Chief Bogo and was ready to speak her mind to the population.

At the podium, before thousands of viewers, Judy glanced at her carefully worded speech and the words clung to her throat. She set down the papers and let her heart communicate for her.

"Nick Wilde has been accused of impairing fourteen mammals, myself included, with a vicious, mind-rending disease." She saw several in the crowd of reporters nod, and she tossed the script away. Bounding from the podium, she faced them all.

"What the public has not told you is that your own assistant mayor was the one who plotted against _all_ predators. Otters and cheetahs alike, hawks and caimans and even shrews, could be accused of crippling this city with violence." She stared down the cameras, challenging the reporters to validate her point. "Is this what Zootopia is meant to be? A city of fear, where predators cower with shock collars around their necks? Is it?"

Her nails dug into her paws, guilt wavering her tone. "Nick was my friend. When I lost my mind to the nighthowler, his thoughts were only for my safety. Does a predator let prey flay his skin without a fight?" She swiped a sleeve over her eyes, ignoring the flash of a camera lens. "Does he ignore pain to protect someone smaller? Does he…." Her voice broke and she gathered herself, pressing a hand to her chest for control. "Does he hope his friends will be there for him, even if they betrayed him?"

" _I'm just a dumb bunny…"_ She tucked her face into her hand, wishing she had the recording. Wishing she could prove what an honorable fox Nick could be.

"He's my friend," she keened. "I was the savage one!"

The reporters shifted uneasily, and Judy knew she had said too much. She had lost control. What a fool she had been, expecting the public to take pity on her because she was too emotional to be anything but herself.

Gathering her last shred of dignity, she fled.

* * *

"That was a pretty impressive flop," Chief Bogo agreed as he stirred his tea and pushed a second cup over to the discouraged rabbit.

"I failed him," Judy murmured. Her elbow shoved the cup aside as she buried her head in her arms. "I should have been cynical and professional; should've told them the facts."

"If I had been the judge, I would have sentenced him without bail," Chief Bogo stated. He paused, and then added, "However, the public's standards are notably uneducated." He prodded Judy's elbow, and nudged the tea towards her again. "I think they'll come around. Probably before sundown."

"Really?" Judy whispered.

Chief Bogo grunted into his cup. "Don't start expecting miracles from me. I consider myself an educated mammal."

* * *

Chief Bogo was right. Three days after Judy's breakdown, the public's answer arrived.

Nick Wilde was guiltless of the sheep's ploy. Demands for his release quickly followed.

When the fox was escorted to police headquarters, flanked by two rhinos who were enthusiastically debating hockey teams, Judy almost ducked into the crowd of officers. Chief Bogo clapped a hand on her head, shoving her towards the fox that she yearned and dreaded to face.

Snorting, swaggering towards her with a vague limp and bandaged limbs, Nick crooked a finger under her chin and tilted up her bowed head. She tried not to look at the torn ear, at the scratches on his face that would eventually fade into scars, at the battle marks that he would jest about forever, boasting about how he, a predator, had been assaulted by a bunny.

"Hey, Carrots." His voice was ever gentle.

Keening high in her throat, Judy thunked her head against his chest, letting him draw her into a hug.

"Easy now, little thumper." Nick crouched before her, thumbing away her tears, smiling in shared pain. He winked as he flicked a hand over his bandaged cheek. "Forty-eight hours and I promise I'll let you erase this."

She laughed, and then cried.


End file.
